Day 6 - Charters Towers to Mount Surprise by Caro

It was a slow start this morning, while we tried to work out a plan for the day.

We ended up spending more time looking around Charters Towers.  We drove up Towers Hill and read about the gold mining days, and the WW2 bunkers.

Charters Towers was used as a staging post for the allies, with North Queensland being the last line of defence for the rest of Australia.

There were multiple bunkers around the hill, some of them you could walk into, and listen to the information. 

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There are 5 bunkers hidden in this photo.

We then drove west, with the intention of getting to Karumba tomorrow.  

We had lunch at a roadhouse at Greenvale.

We then kept driving and went to see the Undara Lava Tunnels.  It looked very nice here, so we tried to book in for the night, so that we could quickly have a look at the tunnels.  Turns out you aren’t allowed to walk through the tunnels unless you are on a tour, and the next tour is at 3.30 tomorrow, so we kept driving.

We have ended up at Mount Surprise, and as we pulled in, the owners asked us if we were here for the campdraft 3ks down the road.  This got Danny and the kids excited, so we set up the float in the caravan park and drove down to have a look.

It was huge, and well set up, but all the riding had finished by the time we got there. We might go back early in the morning to have a look at the competition, and I think Danny and some of the kids might even go back tonight.

We have booked in to the lava tunnels tour, via this caravan park, for tomorrow morning.

We are rethinking the whole Karumba idea, as it seems a long way to go to not even get to enjoy the sunset.

There is also a birthday girl to consider who may not enjoy spending the entire day in the car.

We all ended up going back to the campdraft to watch the auction.  Danny was looking to bid on a fancy fire pit, but it sold for $2500.  This worked well for me, as the only spare bit of room in the horse float is beside my bed, and I wasn’t that excited about stepping over a fire pit every morning for the next month. There were plenty of things in the auction, including 2 eight week old goats that sold for $620.

Morgan Webb (who won the Man From Snowy River competition in Corryong in April) recognised Bill and came over and had a chat, which was pretty cool for Bill.

Danny also saw his mate Joel, who is a bull fighter from the Weipa bull ride.

It really is a small world.

Goodnight.